Caliban's Daughters: A Virtual Buffy Webisode
by Unitarian Jihadist
Summary: Buffy visits an old friend in Africa, and Giles takes Dawn to meet his grandmother, who has some rather disturbing revelations.
1. Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Caliban's Daughters:

A Virtual Buffy "Webisode"

Buffy visits an old friend in Africa, and Giles takes Dawn to meet his grandmother, who has some rather disturbing revelations.

Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all affiliated characters are the intellectual and copyrighted property of Mutant Enemy and Twentieth Century Fox. Furthermore, the opening chapter includes some material written by Joss Whedon. As this is a work of fan fiction I am, like pretty much everyone else here, using these characters without permission or profit except for my entertainment and hopefully the entertainment of others.

Continuity: This story occurs about six months after the events in "Chosen", and is based on information provided via Andrew during the fifth season of Angel. The rest is stuff I've made up.

Final Comments: This story is written in a present tense format meant to describe the action as it might be seen on a television. I'm not sure how well this will work. This story is being treated as an episode from a "hidden" virtual season, one that I have no intention of writing in its entirety (but I do hope to do selected "webisodes" or stories about this imagined period in the lives and times of "the Scoobies"). If you want to see an absolutely _**excellent**_ virtual BtVS series, check out **Buffy the Chosen** by Jet Wolf, Ultrace and Novareinna. This, by the way, is an entirely unsolicited plug.

So, here we go. Warning: The first chapter is a lot longer than most actual episode recaps would be, but I felt it necessary to provide enough background to make the following story coherent.

"**Previously, on Buffy the Vampire slayer" **

"**Oh….my….Goddess!" says Willow. **The scythe glows under her hands.

"So here's the part where you can make a choice," says Buffy**.** "What if you could have that power? Now. In every generation, one slayer is born because a bunch of men who died thousands of years ago made up that rule. They were powerful men. This _woman_ is more powerful than all of them combined."

"Hmmmm" says Willow, looking very uneasy.

"So I say we change the rule." Buffy continues, walking before the ragtag group of potentials standing in her living room. "I say my power, should be _our_ power."

Kennedy feels the power wash over her.

Then Vi, Rona, Amanda, and the other potentials in the Hellmouth feel the power wash over them.

"Tomorrow, Willow will use the essence of the scythe to change our destiny."

**The scene switches to Dawn and Xander.** Dawn is holding onto her sword like a life preserver when her eyes go wide. She staggers slightly, falling against the wall behind her.

"What?" Dawn says, looking confused.

"What was that, Dawn?" Xander says. He doesn't turn around, but continues to watch the hallway in front of him closely. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm OK," Dawn says, pulling her sword closer to her and holding it tighter. "Just a little uneasy, that's all."

"**From now on, every girl who **_**might**_** be a slayer," says Buffy. **"_Will _be a slayer."

As Buffy continues her speech we see a little girl, about ten in a yellow softball outfit coming to the plate. A young woman leans against a locker in a high school locker room. An east Indian girl lying on a mat looks up. A Japanese girl stands up from a family meal. A woman stops a man's hand from striking her face and stands up

"Every girl who could have the power, will have the power. Can stand up, _will_ stand up."

The scene returns to the little girl at bat in the softball game. As the power washes over her, she smiles.

"Make your choice," Buffy says. "Are you ready to be strong?"

Vi, looking at the oncoming Turok-Han hoard, says, "These guys are dust."

**Xander is fighting a Turok-Han. **It is not going well. Dawn is standing in the background, still holding her sword tightly, but as two more of the Turok-Han arrive, she rushes forward and pulls a rope, unveiling a skylight. The three Turok-Han immediately burn into ash.

"We call it the greenhouse effect, very danger…" Xander says, just as another Turok-Han tackles him. Dawn, her face angry and determined, raises her sword and swings it…

…and slices through the Turok-Han's neck, immediately beheading it.

"Wha…?" says Xander. "How did you…?"

Another Turok-Han runs up behind Dawn.

"Look out!" Xander yells.

Dawn turns and kicks the Turok-Han back into the sunlight underneath the skylight. He bursts into flames before flying out of the sunlight and into a wall, which cracks with a loud impact. Dawn leaps seven feet in the air, following the Turok-Han's trajectory and swinging her sword, beheading the flaming creature as she comes down. Dawn lands on her feet and looks at the sword wonderingly.

"Hey, Xander," Dawn says. "It looks like I'm in the running for Miss Sunnydale of 2003 after all."

**Dawn is standing with Karyn McGrath, a blond slayer about her age and one of the survivors of the Battle of the Hellmouth, in the lobby of the Hyperion Hotel. **They're watching as two people walk into the building. One of them is a girl of about ten. Indeed, she is the softball player seen earlier. The other is a strikingly attractive woman in her mid-forties.

"That's my sister Caitlyn," Karyn says. "And that's my Mom. Dr. Lyssa McGrath, Veterinarian."

"How did they know you were here?" Dawn says.

"I called them when we got here," says Karyn.

"Karyn," Dawn says. "Giles said we weren't supposed to be telling _anyone_ where we are."

"Well, Giles was OK with it in this case," Karyn says. "Turns out Willow's spell made Caitlyn a slayer too. And my Mom was a potential in the 1970's."

Dawn's eyes widen. "_Really_?"

"Yeah," Karyn says. "And get _this_, her watcher thought Mom was going to be next one chosen for sure, but no one anticipated how long Nikki Wood would last. By the time Nikki died, it was too late for my Mom."

"That's a _good _thing," Dawn says. "By the way, I wouldn't be telling that particular story to Robin."

"Of course not," Karyn says. "But I haven't even told you the _best_ part."

"What's that?" asks Dawn.

"Apparently my Mom wasn't exactly an _ex_-potential after all."

"_No _way!"

"_Way!_" says Karyn. "I probably have both the world's oldest and youngest slayer in my family!"

**Dawn and Willow are in a room in Gile's house in Devonshire. ** They are sitting cross legged on the floor, their eyes closed. Between them, eight pencils are floating in the air and twirling end over end. Buffy walks in.

"Willow," Buffy says. "Are you trying to teach Dawn how to levitate _pencils_ now?"

"Nope!" Willow says.

Dawn holds her hand out and all eight pencils stop their twirling and go one at a time into the palm of her open right hand.

"Lesson's already over," Dawn says.

**Giles is holding a sheet of paper and showing it to Willow, Kennedy, and Buffy. **

"I hold in my hands the highest admission test score in the history of the Watcher's Academy," Giles says.

"Really?" Willow says. "That's great news, Giles! You need all the new watchers you can get! I mean, we've got more than 550 slayers worldwide and only 7 watchers, of which you are by far the youngest. Kinda overwhelming, huh?"

"Perhaps not such great news in this case," Giles says.

"What do you mean, Giles?" Buffy asks.

"Look at the name on the test sheet," Giles says, pulling it out of a file and handing it to Buffy.

Buffy looks at it, her eyes going wide. Willow looks at it and her eyes go even wider than Buffy's.

"Oh!" Willow says. "Oh, no! This _can't_ be right, Giles!"

"I'm afraid it is," Giles says. "Dawn Summers has the highest entrance examination score in Watcher Academy history. My Grandmother would be quite cross about it, actually."

"Let me guess," Buffy says. "_You_ had the previous high score."

"Of course not," Giles says. "_She_ did."

"OK, Giles," Buffy says. "What the Hell is going on with my little sister?"

"Well," Giles says. "I didn't have any idea, but Dawn has a theory."

Buffy crosses her arms and looks at Giles.

"_Dawn _has a theory," she says.

"Y..Yes," Giles says. "Dawn suspects that in her case, Willow's spell may have unlocked _multiple_ potentials. Slayer, witch, watcher…

"…linguist."

We cut to Dawn in a schoolgirl uniform talking to two other identically dressed girls in fluent Italian.

"It seems that Dawn can literally become anything she wants to become," Giles says.

**Giles is talking to six people sitting around a round table, four men and two women, the youngest looking to be in their seventies. **

"We are starting Slayer Academies in Cleveland, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, Johannesburg, New Delhi, and Tokyo," Giles says.

"Where are you getting the money for all this, Rupert?" asks Roger Wyndham-Price.

"Well, much of the money came from funds recently liberated from the old Council's Swiss Bank accounts," Giles says. "Since then, we have also come into some additional funds for ongoing operational expenses."

**Scene switches to Willow sitting in an internet café in Paris. **A prosperous looking man walks up to her.

"Miss Rosenberg, we need to talk," he says, speaking with a Swiss accent.

The scene switches to an outdoor café.

"We know that you are the person who closed the accounts for the old Watcher's Council," the man says. "You should know it took more than 300 people to even tentatively determine that it was you, including _all_ our own hackers, numerous security consultants, and a number of techno-pagans. You covered your trail very well."

"Thanks, I think," Willow says. "And I'm ….sorry."

"Don't be," the man says. "We're _not_ calling Interpol or any other authorities. As far as we can determine, you were representing the people with the strongest ethical, if not strictly legal, claim to the old Council's funds."

The man looks intently at Willow.

"Instead of trying to prosecute you with evidence that would not hold up in any court of law, we would prefer to hire you as a consultant."

**The scene switches to a huge corner office in downtown Los Angeles. **Xander, very well dressed in a black suit, is talking to another, equally well dressed older man.

"The fact is, Mr. Harris," the man says. "In the span of a year, you went from working for Sunnydale's largest contractor as a foreman to _becoming_ Sunnydale's largest contractor. As a result, you now hold most of the contracts for rebuilding Sunnydale."

"People want to rebuild _Sunnydale_?" Xander asks. "_Why_?"

"That's not important, Mr. Harris," the man says. "The important thing is that we at Sunset Development want to buy those contracts from you. I think you will find our offer to be very generous."

**The scene switches to the new Slayer Academy in Rome. **Willow is approaching Buffy and Dawn, who are looking at a sheet of paper held by Xander. Willow has a stunned look on her face, but her three friends don't notice.

"Hey, Willow!" Buffy yells. "Look how much money my Dad's old company is paying Xander to buy his rebuilding Sunnydale contracts."

"They're going to rebuild _Sunnydale_?" Willow asks in disbelief.

"Yeah," Buffy says, shaking her head. "It does boggle the mind."

Then she smiles brightly.

"But lookie at all the cute little zeros Xander got!"

"Wow," says Willow. "That's a lot of zeros!"

"So did you take that security consulting job?" Dawn asks Willow.

"Yeah," Willow says.

"So how much are they paying you, Will?" Xander says. "I can spring for a loan if they're being too cheap."

Willow sheepishly pulls out her own contract from her purse. Xander looks at it and whistles. Then he scowls.

"_Hey! No fair!" _Xander says with exaggerated petulance, pointing at Willow. "_You_ got more zeros than _I_ did!"

**On a Rome street, three slayers are fighting a very tall vampire. **The vampire is clad in a very expensive looking suit and black sunglasses. He wears his long red hair in a pony tail and he is wielding a sword. The slayers are all hard pressed. As we see a close up on the vampire's face, we hear a slicing noise, and the vampire's face is splashed with blood. He smiles.

The scene switches to the Rome Slayer Academy. Buffy is lecturing a group of young slayers, including Dawn, when she suddenly falls to her knees.

"Inga," Buffy rasps as Dawn runs to her side. "I felt her die."

**A small army of vampires are dressed like Mongol warriors and riding obviously vampiric horses with yellow eyes and prominent canine teeth. **They are riding towards the Tokyo Slayer Academy. In front of the academy stand several young women and girls, armed with swords, crossbows, and axes. One of the Mongol warriors lets fly an arrow, and a slayer falls dead with an arrow in her heart.

Back in Rome, Buffy sits up in bed and screams. Dawn runs in.

"Buffy!" she yells. "It's just a nightmare!"

"No," says Buffy. "Nine more slayers in Japan, including Chao-Ahn! Dawn, I _felt_ them _die_!"

Dawn looks intently at Buffy's face. Our vantage point is the back of Buffy's head.

"Buffy!" Dawn says. "What's happened to your _eyes_?"

"My eyes?' says Buffy.

We then see what Dawn sees. The corneas of Buffy's eyes have turned bright yellow, and the whites have turned bright red.


	2. Teaser

Teaser

**Giles and Dawn are walking down the hall of the Slayer Academy in Rome. **The hall is constructed of red brick with a very high vaulted ceiling. Massive globe lights hang down every 20 feet along the corridor. Giles' and Dawn's footsteps echo off the walls. Occasionally, a young slayer hurries quietly by them, but for the most part, they are alone.

"I'm glad you could come, Giles," Dawn says. "I really don't know what to do about this."

"Of course I came, Dawn," Giles says. "When something involves Buffy, or for that matter you, nothing could keep me away. You said Buffy is the only one among you who appears to be experiencing the deaths of other slayers?"

"That's correct."

"Perhaps it has something to do with Buffy having already been a slayer before Willow's spell," Giles says. "Have you contacted Faith?"

"Already thought of that," Dawn says. "Faith's off on some secret mission with her new Initiative buddies. Of course, the person I talked to wasn't willing to tell me anything, but Willow's trying to contact Riley telepathically."

"He's becoming quite the novice sorcerer, isn't he?"

"Yes he is. At any rate, we haven't heard back from Faith yet. But frankly, I'm not hopeful we'll learn anything from her anyway. I would think that Riley would be calling _us_ if anything like what's been happening with Buffy happened to Faith."

"You're probably right," Giles says with a sigh.

Giles stops walking and looks at Dawn.

"You know that I have already had concerns about your….multiplying talents."

"Of course," Dawn says. "Join the club. That old axiom about absolute power corrupting absolutely? Definite worries for me there. I've already been through that whole thing with Willow, and the _last_ thing I want to see is a repeat of that starring _me_ as 'Dark Dawn'."

"I assure you that's _really_ not the source of my concern," Giles' says.

"Well, it's the source of _my _concern," says Dawn. "Do you know I don't have to even _look_ at the subtitles for Bollywood movies anymore? Everything's coming too easily for me now: Slaying, witchcraft, languages, homework…everything."

"Yes, well, there _is_ someone else we could talk to," Giles says. "About Buffy and about you. This person knows more slayer lore than anyone else alive."

"Really?" Dawn says. "I thought that would be you, or maybe even me nowadays."

"No, no," says Giles. He is clearly nervous. "_This_ person will know more, but she hasn't talked to me in over thirty years. She still won't want to talk to me. But she may want to talk to _you_."

"Who are you _talking_ about?" asks Dawn.

"Edna Giles," Giles says. "My grandmother."

**DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO**

The jeep is stuck in the mud on a narrow logging road. Dense rain forest is on either side of the road. Four men, all in DRC military uniforms, are working to dig and push the jeep out. They finally succeed, their clothes covered in mud, and the soldier in the front passenger seat of the jeep, obviously the man in charge, pats the driver on the shoulder, who immediately stops the jeep and turns off the engine.

**Subtitles translated from Lingala:**

"Stop the jeep here," the commander says, holding a cigarette in his left hand. "We will expend less energy walking than by digging this jeep out of the mud every half kilometer.

"Joseph, Mark. You two take point. Patrice, Georges, you stay to the rear. Paul, you stay with me. The logging camp should only be three kilometers distant."

As the men walk along the road, Patrice grumbles to Georges.

"Walking in this mud will take hours."

"So would trying to drive through it," Georges replies.

There is a rustling in the forest in the distance. A low rumble, probably from a forest elephant, is heard. Also the scream of a chimpanzee.

"Hearing meat reminds me of how hungry I am," Patrice says. "We ought to go in and shoot something."

"There will be meat in the camp," Georges replies. "The lieutenant will not stop to allow you to shoot something, butcher it, and carry it three kilometers. There is only about three hours of daylight left. We need to keep walking."

The lieutenant, cigarette in his mouth, turns and glares at Georges and Patrice and makes a cutting motion in his hand, obviously designed to tell the men to be quiet. When he turns around again, his eyes widen.

"Where are Joseph and Mark?" the lieutenant asks. He turns to Paul, only to find he's now gone too.

The lieutenant waves Patrice and Georges forward. They jog up to the lieutenant's position.

"Where is everyone?" Georges asks.

"Probably out looking for meat," Patrice says.

"No," says the lieutenant. "First they were here, and now they are gone. And now we are being watched."

The other two men bring their rifles to their shoulders. The lieutenant pulls out his pistol, cigarette still in his mouth. There is a quick and quiet rustle, and then Georges is gone as well.

"What? What is happening?" Patrice whispers fearfully. "FDLR?"

"No, they wouldn't go this deep in the forest," the lieutenant says. "Not enough profit in it. Now stay alert."

As the lieutenant finishes speaking, _something _moves very fast. Patrice doesn't even have time to look before he vanishes, pulled into the forest so quickly all that is seen is a blur that lasts a millisecond or two.

The lieutenant looks around.

"Patrice?" he whispers around his cigarette. He remains calm, and moves to the center of the road. Our view changes to within the forest, looking out to the road at the lieutenant. Suddenly, very rapidly, we move towards him. He turns, raises his gun…

…and there is a gunshot. Our view switches to the treetops where a flock of African Grey Parrots flies off at the sound of the shot. Then our view returns to the road. There is no sign of the lieutenant except for his cigarette, which is falling to the road in slow motion. It is still lit. When it hits the wet ground, it goes out. Our view moves back. The forest is silent.


	3. Act 1

Act 1

**Buffy is sitting on an examination table in the Academy infirmary. **

"How much longer is this going to be?" Buffy asks.

"Just a minute, Signorina Summers," says Dr. Gianni, a small and thin woman in her mid fifties with iron grey hair. She speaks English with a light accent that barely suggests Italian. "I want to show Dr. McGrath your ocular reflex."

"Uhm, that's the thing with the eyes, right?" Buffy asks.

"Yes."

Dr. Lyssa McGrath walks in. Tall and striking, with long brown hair, she's in her mid forties and has bright green eyes. Walking in with her is her younger daughter Caitlyn, age 11. Caitlyn smiles shyly at Buffy. Buffy smiles back, despite the obvious impatience she was displaying moments earlier.

"Dr. McGrath," Dr. Gianni says. "So good to see you."

"She wants to show you my ocular reflexes," Buffy says.

"I thought I asked you to bring Karyn or one of the other _teenaged_ slayers," Dr. Gianni says. "They are closer to Signorina Summers' age."

"Karyn is saying goodbye to Dawn," Lyssa says. "And between Caitlyn and myself, you should be able to still make your point."

"Hey!" Buffy says. "_I_ should be saying goodbye to Dawn. 'bye guys!"

"Signorina Summers, wait!" Dr. Gianni says. "You told me yourself that you wanted to understand as much as possible about your change in condition. And didn't I just watch you spend 15 minutes saying goodbye to your sister?"

Buffy sits back down with a pout.

"But why should I have to wait for the _vet_ to examine me?" Buffy says.

"Because I want her to validate what I am seeing," Dr. Gianni says. "And in this case, medicine is medicine, and physiology is physiology."

"And bored is bored," Buffy says. "Hurry it up, Docs."

"All right," says Dr. Gianni to Lyssa. "Shine the light in my eyes."

Lyssa obeys.

"OK, good reflexes," Lyssa says.

"Keep in mind that I am a woman in my fifties," Dr. Gianni says. "I wish you could better see your own eyes in direct comparison to me. Try your daughter."

Lyssa shines the light in Caitlyn's eyes.

Lyssa looks startled.

"That was _much_ faster."

"Yes," Dr. Gianni says. "I believe that is an expression of slayer reflexes."

"Well, this makes adaptive sense," Lyssa says. "Slayers need to be able to see in the dark, and adjust to changes in light, very well and very quickly."

"Of course you are correct, Dr. McGrath," Dr. Gianni says. "Now, shine the light into Signorina Summers' eyes."

Lyssa shines the light in Buffy's bright yellow and red eyes.

"That….that's impossible," Lyssa says.

"What?" Buffy says. "What's impossible? I don't _like_ impossible."

Lyssa looks at Buffy and continues to shine the light, on and off, into her eyes.

"It's instantaneous," Lyssa says. "I'm not even _seeing_ the cornea move. It's like watching two photographs being instantaneously shuffled."

"Can you _please_ stop waving that light in my eyes?" Buffy says.

"Oh, sorry," Lyssa says. "Buffy, you say you are stronger now?"

"Yeah, I figure since the Tokyo slayers died I'm twice as strong as I was during the Battle of the Hellmouth," Buffy says. "And just after Willow's spell I was a _lot_ stronger than I was before. My strength was increased when all the slayers were activated."

"Yes," Lyssa says. "You slayers who were closest to the epicenter of Willow's spell are all stronger than the rest of us. You all also move faster and heal faster than the rest of us. Not that any of us are the little sisters of the poor."

"Yeah, so?"

"So look at what's happening to you," Lyssa says. "It's like you are becoming the ultimate slayer."

"But I don't want to _be _the ultimate slayer, Lyssa!" Buffy yells. "That's like being the _only_ slayer again! I was just getting used to the idea that I wasn't the only one anymore, that I wasn't alone any longer."

"We are all ultimately alone, Signorina…" Dr. Gianni begins to say before Buffy interrupts her.

"_Spare_ me the damn philosophy, Doc!"

"Buffy!" Lyssa says. "You're scaring Caitlyn."

Buffy turns to Caitlyn, who looks back at her somberly.

"I…I'm sorry, Caitlyn," Buffy says quietly. "I'm sorry to you too, Dr. Gianni. Really. I'm just…_scared._ This is like Los Angeles all over again. Like when I first became the slayer."

"Buffy," Lyssa says. "We're all going to try to help you. Hopefully Dawn and Giles will be able to find out something from Mrs. Giles, who by the way I can't believe is still alive. Did you _know_ about that?"

"Yeah, I knew," Buffy says. "Giles tried to call her during the thing with Glory, when we were desperate to find out what _she_ was. Mrs. Giles wouldn't even talk to him. She's completely disowned him. We ended up having to go to _Quentin Travers _and the old Council instead."

Buffy then looks up at Lyssa, a horrified and apologetic look on her face.

"I'm sorry I said his name like that," Buffy says. "I keep forgetting he was _your_ watcher."

"It's all right, Buffy," Lyssa says. "I realize that I experienced a very different Quentin Travers from the one everyone else knew."

Buffy nods.

"Time for a subject change," Buffy says. "I feel an urgent need to return to work. Has Robin arrived from Tokyo yet?"

"He has," Lyssa says.

"Good! You, me, and him. My office. 20 minutes."

"Very good," Lyssa says.

Buffy stands up and walks to the infirmary door, then yanks off the door knob.

"Damn," Buffy says. "Remember what it was like when you first became slayers?"

"Yeah," Caitlyn says quietly. "The world is too soft."

"Yeah," says Buffy. "The world is too soft."

**Twenty minutes later, Buffy sits on her desk and looks at Robin Wood and Lyssa McGrath, who are seated in chairs in front of her. **Buffy is now wearing very dark sunglasses.

"OK, Robin," Buffy says. "What's your report?"

"Well," Robin says. "We lost nine slayers, and four more were wounded pretty badly. On the plus side, the girls estimate they took out fourteen riders."

"It's my understanding about Khan's Horde that it's the mounts that are the most important targets," Buffy says. "How many of _them_ did we get?"

"I'm afraid only two," Robin says.

Buffy shakes her head.

"We've got to do better."

"Robin," says Lyssa. "Any idea what's motivating these attacks? The Horde has been content for the last five hundred years to stay in Mongolia or Siberia. What brought them to Tokyo, and how did they get into one of the world's most crowded metropolitan areas with their mounts?"

"I don't know," Robin says. "But, one of the girls who killed a mount noticed this symbol on the bridle before it was dusted."

Robin pulls out a piece of paper with a black circle drawn on it, a circle with thorns.

Buffy leans forward excitedly.

"That's the _same_ symbol that was tattooed on the hand of Rothgar's brother. What was his name…?"

"Wulfgar," says Lyssa.

"Yeah," Buffy says. "Two of the most deadly but isolated tribes of vampires emerge to attack two of our academies. This circle thingie is the only thing we've got connecting them. We need to get this information to Dawn and Giles as soon as they reach England. Maybe they or Mrs. Giles can make something of it."

**Giles is driving an Astin Martin through the Nottingham countryside. **

"Where did you get this car, Giles?" Dawn says. "Still in midlife crises mode?"

"That's not funny," Giles said. "I'll have you know that _Xander_ bought it for me. He's quite taken with the whole James Bond thing, you know."

"Sounds like our Xander," says Dawn. "So, are you going to tell me the story behind your grandmother? How old is she anyway?"

"One hundred and two," Giles says. "And the last I heard, she doesn't look a day over seventy. She still rides her horses, and walks the grounds to her estate."

"Is it big?"

"Yes, quite big."

"So what's the deal between you two?" Dawn asks. "Did your grandmother disown you because you were so rebellious against the old Council?"

"Quite the opposite," Giles says. "She disowned both my father and me for _joining _the Council."

"_What_?" Dawn says. "Wasn't she a watcher herself?"

"Much more than that," Giles says. "At the time my father became a watcher, and still when I was first…employed by the Council in a very different capacity from watcher, she was the _Head_ of the Council."

"You mean she was in _charge_?" Dawn asks, incredulously. "Why didn't she just refuse to let you and your Dad in if she didn't want you joining?"

"Because my father and I both passed the Council's tests. Even Edna Giles couldn't gainsay that."

"I thought when you were young you didn't want to be in the Council," Dawn says.

"No, that's not right," Giles says. "I rebelled against the idea of being a _watcher. _I wanted to be a warlock for the Council, and started as, well, as an old friend of mine used to call it, a 'policy implementation specialist'."

"Wetworks?" Dawn asks. "Black ops?"

"Dear lord," Giles says. "This perceptive Jane of All Trades thing with you is really becoming tiresome. Yes, 'black ops' would also be an appropriate term."

The drive continues in silence. Eventually, the Astin Martin takes a side road, at the end of the side road is a gate and beyond it, an enormous estate. Giles pulls up to the intercom by the gate and pushes the button.

"May I help you," says a male voice, aged and authoritative.

"Dawn Summers and Rupert Giles to see Edna Giles," Giles says.

The gate opens.

"Drive to the end of the driveway and park in the front of the house," the voice says. "Stay in the car until the gentlemen I send to greet you wave you out of the car."

Giles drives through the gate. Dawn looks around.

"Security cameras hidden around the grounds, looks like sophisticated sound monitoring equipment, and my witch senses are screaming about several magickal traps," Dawn says. "You're grandmother is very security conscious."

"She has every reason to be," Giles says. "She made a lot of enemies both in and out of the Council."

"I noticed that you said my name first," Dawn says.

"It decreases our chances of hearing an automatic 'turn around and leave now' when my name is mentioned last," Giles says.

The Astin Martin arrives at the front of a huge mansion. Four men in suits, two with automatic rifles, are standing on the pathway to the house. One of the men with a rifle steps in front of the car and raises his left hand, the rifle cradled in his right on the ready. Giles stops the car and brings up his hands. In his right hand are the keys. Dawn, watching Giles, slowly brings her hands into view as well.

Another man, one of the men without a rifle, walks up. It's Collins, the former leader of the old Council's Black Ops Squad. He motions for Giles to open the door. Giles opens the door and slowly gets out.

"You know the drill, old man," Collins says.

"Of course I do, Collins," Giles says. "I bloody well trained _you_ on the drill."

"Hands on the roof," Collins says to Giles. "Miss Summers, please remain in the car until I have finished searching Mr. Giles."

Giles follows Collins directions. Collins pats him down.

"All right, Miss Summers," Collins says when he finishes. "You may follow the path to the house. A man named Henderson will admit you."

"What, you're not going to search _me_?" Dawn asks. "_I'm_ the slayer here."

"No, Miss Summers," Collins says. "You may proceed to the house. Ripper and I will stay here to discuss old times."

"Go ahead, Dawn," Giles says.

"No," Dawn says. "Tell Mrs. Giles that Giles and I are a package deal. Admit one of us, admit both of us."

"Dawn, no," says Giles.

"Trust me, Giles."

Collins speaks quietly into the mic on his collar. "Did you hear that?"

Collins waits, then jerks his head towards the door. "Both of you."

As Dawn walks off, Collins whispers to one of the other guards. "She's every bit as cheeky as the _other_ Summers girl."

"Didn't the 'other Summers girl' once beat the crap out of you?" the other guard asks. Collins scowls and walks away.

Giles and Dawn walk up the path, which is lined by bright green bushes.

"Not very smart, lining the path with bushes," Giles says. "It provides cover."

"The bushes are traps," Dawn says. "They have thorns and they're aggressive."

"Tharnachian Demon Bushes?" Giles asks.

"Yep," Dawn says. "Your grandmother really _is_ concerned about security."

"That was a very foolish risk you took," Giles says to Dawn.

"No it wasn't," Dawn said. "I was sure that your grandmother wants to meet me."

"Really?" Giles says. "How, pray tell, can you be so certain when you've never met her?"

"You gave me all the information concerning your grandmother that I needed,"

Dawn says.

"I've hardly told you _anything_ about my grandmother," Giles says.

"You once told me that your grandmother would be 'quite cross' about me beating her entrance examination score," Dawn says. "If that is true, she won't be able to resist meeting me."

Giles and Dawn approach the massive front doors of the mansion, and the doors open to reveal an older, white haired man.

"Mr. Henderson?" Dawn asks.

"Yes, Miss Summers," Henderson says as he turns around, pointedly ignoring Giles. "Follow me."

"Boy, they _really_ don't like you much around here," Dawn whispers to Giles.

**Buffy is standing alone in the Rome Academy's cavernous gymnasium. **She is doing a slow motion kata. She is wearing loose grey sweat pants and a white t-shirt, and she is also wearing very dark sunglasses. In the midst of the kata, Buffy stops and looks to the door a full four seconds before the double doors to the outside hall open, and a very tall young woman pokes her head into the room.

"Miss Summers," she says. "You have a phone call from Willow."

Buffy nods and puts a towel on her shoulders. "Thanks, Svetlana. I'll take the call in my office."

Next we see Buffy walking into her office, and very gingerly picking up the phone.

"Hey, Will."

Scene switches to Willow in Rio. She's leaning over a glass table in front of a large picture window overlooking a beach and bright blue ocean. Willow's dressed in a black one piece swimsuit covered by a brightly colored wrap.

"Hey, Buffy, how're you doing?"

Buffy puts her feet on her desk but still holds the phone carefully.

"OK, I guess," Buffy says. "Still adjusting to having experienced other people's deaths, and to being a lot stronger. I could probably give Glory a bloody nose _without_ a Troll hammer now."

"Svetlana said that Dawn went to England to talk with Giles' _grandmother,_" Willow says, waving to Kennedy briefly as she and two other slayers walk by in bikini tops and towels wrapped around their waists. Kennedy blows Willow a kiss and motions towards the beach, mouthing _hurry up_. Willow nods. "Kennedy sends her love."

"Yeah, I bet," Buffy says. Buffy seems to be having a little trouble keeping her balance as she leans back on the chair and holds onto the phone. "She's probably just trying to get you off the phone and on the beach again. She get you to wear that thong bikini yet?"

"Shut up, Buffy!" Willow says jokingly even as her face turns bright red. "Oh! Oh! The reason I called! I've detected another slayer in Africa."

"Ah, the time honored tactic of changing the subject to official business," Buffy says. "Brilliant strategy. Have you reached Xander yet?"

"Yeah, I had to do telepathy," Willow says. "Xander's been so busy building group homes for orphans that he's difficult to reach through conventional means. He's going to take a look, but he says it doesn't make sense. He says no one lives where I'm sensing the slayer. It's a really remote area in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He and his pilot friend Jono are going, and he's calling up a Johannesburg Academy slayer who's originally from the DRC to ride shotgun. But, I really think maybe he could use help from a close friend. If you're up to it, that is."

"I'm up to it," Buffy says. "So you thought of me _after_ Dawn?"

"Hey," Willow says. "I'm _sorry_! I thought with everything that happened you might not be up to traveling."

"That's OK, Willow," Buffy says. "I'm just pushing your buttons."

"You _minx_!!" Willow says.

"I thought you only called Kennedy a minx," Buffy says.

"That's right! You're _not_ a minx! You're _worse_ than a minx! You're a…a…_meaniehead!_"

"_Meanie_head?"

"Yeah!" Willow says. "Top _that _one sister!"

"I can't top that, Willow," Buffy says, her face breaking into an evil grin. "Just tell Kennedy I want a picture when she gets you into a thong bikini. I promise not to show it to Xander."

"Kennedy knows better than to send sexy pictures to a _double_ meaniehead like you!" Willow says. "She knows that there are strict conditions for getting Willow smootchies!"

"It's in the relationship contract huh?" Buffy asks.

"Yep!" says Willow. "Paragraph six, section two."

There is a brief pause.

"Are you _really_ OK, Buffy?"

"Getting there, Will."

Buffy sits quietly and thoughtfully for a second, then leans forward and puts her feet on the floor. The evil smile returns.

"Maybe I'll show the picture to Giles instead."

"You _minx_!"

**Henderson shows Dawn and Giles into an extremely large living room. **A huge picture window looks out over a huge and very green landscape. The huge room contains a comfortable looking mixture of antique and modern furniture. The colors in the room are light, off whites, light tans and light blues. The room looks inviting and comfortable.

Standing in the middle of the room is a tall woman with white hair, who looks to be in her very healthy early seventies, rather than a hundred and two. Edna Giles is wearing riding pants and boots, and walks towards Dawn and Giles with the athletic grace of a retired dancer. Dawn is clearly impressed.

Edna Giles extends her hand. "Miss Summers, it is a pleasure."

Dawn takes Edna's hand. "Glad to meet you."

"Tea?" Edna asks.

"Sure," Dawn says.

"And how about you, Rupert?"

Giles is clearly startled that his grandmother addressed him.

"Ahem! Y..yes, that would be lovely," Giles says.

"Henderson, would you get us all some tea please?" Edna then gestures with her right arm for both Dawn and Giles to sit. They sit together on a large couch. Edna sits in a red, straight backed chair opposite them.

"How may I help you, Miss Summers?" Edna asks.

"Well, there are some matters relating to my sister, and myself," Dawn says. "Do you know about the recent spell?"

"You mean the activation of all the potentials?" Edna replies. "How can I not? Manchester United brings some East Indian girl, Par…Parmi…something, onto the team, and then she kicks a football _through_ the net. A week later, she vanishes. Then there are those two or three girls who played that odious game the _Americans _call football. Plus, there were those numerous record setting performances by new female athletes, who then vanished before they could compete with their Olympic teams. It was in all the newspapers and on all the televisions."

Edna looks at Giles, then back at Dawn.

"I presume you and your friends had something to do with the rather sudden public appearances, then the equally sudden disappearances, of these superhuman young women?"

"Yes," Dawn says. "Willow Rosenberg, a friend of ours, used the Scythe to…"

Edna puts her hand on Dawn's knee and interrupts gently.

"I actually _know_ what happened, dear," Edna says. "Sometimes, I tend to engage in rhetorical flourishes. It's a common form of amusement for very old women who like to believe they are clever."

As Henderson walks back into the living room and serves tea, Edna looks at her grandson.

"Rupert," Edna says. "I am rather glad you came by. It is difficult….difficult for me to admit to my failures…"

"And you think I am one of your failures," Giles says rather bitterly as he takes a tea from Henderson.

"At first, yes," Edna says. "But now, as I watch you rebuild the Council into something much better than the entity I tried to run, I confess to being quite proud of you. Actually, I've been proud of you ever since you chose your slayer over the Council."

"What??" Giles exclaims. "But then why did you still refuse to talk to me?"

"At first, when you went to work for the Council, and especially in the vile capacity you initially chose, I was very ashamed of you," Edna says. "But then, when you helped your slayer against the Council's absurd test, and that odious Quentin Travers fired you, I became ashamed of myself. I thought I could reform the Council, but I later realized that the institution needed to be blown up and started again. And now, ironically, that is what is happening, and you are creating the kind of Council I wish I had been in charge of."

Edna Giles takes a dainty sip of tea.

"My dear young man, when I tell you about the _old_ Council…what it really was, how it began, I fear that you will want to disown _me_."

Giles just stares at Edna. Dawn, seated next to him, reaches down and helps to steady his tea cup.

"Easy, Giles," Dawn says. "Don't spill the tea on your grandmother's nice carpet."

"Oh…oh of course," Giles says, taking his tea and rather hastily putting it on the little table in front of him. The tea cup clatters but does not spill.

"Mrs. Giles," Dawn says. "Buffy, my sister, has been experiencing the deaths of the other slayers. It leaves her very upset, almost hysterical, and when she appears to recover emotionally, she is noticeably stronger and faster than she was before. This isn't happening to any of the other slayers, even Faith, who like Buffy was active before Willow cast her spell."

"Yes, well, that is not really surprising," Edna says. "It simply confirms my suspicions about your sister."

"And what are those suspicions?" asks Giles.

Edna takes a deep breath.

"Tell me, what do you know about the _first_ slayer?" Edna says.

"Well, she was created when three men, who we have been calling 'the Shadow Men', chained a girl to a rock and forced power, created from the 'heart of a demon', into her," Giles says.

"And how did you find this out?" Edna asks.

"Buffy went through a portal and met the Shadow Men, and they told her," Dawn says.

"Unfortunately Dawn, the Shadow Men are accomplished liars," Edna says.

"_Are_?" Dawn echoes.

"Yes, I'll be getting back to that. But first, it is important to know that what you just told me is the story behind the origin of the _second _slayer. The so-called 'heart of a demon' actually belonged to the _first_ slayer, the one many of us call 'the Primitive'. The Shadow Men murdered her, stole her heart, and took as much of her power as they could."

"W…wait," Giles says. "You are telling us that the Shadow Men did not _create_ the slayer at all?"

"Yes, that is correct," Edna says. "The first slayer was immortal, the daughter of a Higher Being and someone from an earlier species of humanity. She lived for millennia, perhaps even hundreds of millennia, before the Shadow Men murdered her and took her power."

"Why would they _do_ that?" Dawn asks.

"The usual reasons, actually," Edna says. "The Shadow Men were _evil_, Dawn. The original slayer, the true slayer, was their ancient enemy. They thought to take her power, and to put it into a vessel that would be easier for them to control. And in large measure, when they put the power into a captive young girl, they succeeded. But not entirely."

"What do you mean, 'not entirely'?" Dawn asks.

"What is the prophecy, the first prophecy every watcher and every slayer learns?" Edna asks.

" 'Into each generation a slayer is born, one girl in all the world born with the strength and skill'…" Giles begins.

"That's good, Rupert," Edna says, cutting him off. "Did you hear the key phrasing there?"

"I'm afraid not," Dawn says.

"I'm afraid I'm rather at a loss as well," Giles says.

" 'Into each_ generation _a slayer is _born_'…" Edna says. "Not 'when one slayer dies, another takes her place'. The original slayer was part Higher Being. Her physical body could be killed, and much of her power could be taken. But, her _spirit_ was beyond the power of the Shadow Men to contain. So, the spirit went out and searched for a girl child who otherwise would be stillborn. The spirit would _choose_ that child for her next incarnation. That child would grow up to be the next 'chosen one'."

"Wait a minute," Giles says. "You're saying that the slayer prophecy refers to a single entity who is repeatedly _reincarnated_?"

"Yes I am," Edna says. "The spirit of the original slayer simply worked herself into a rotation with the other slayers, the ones called by the Shadow Men and their descendents in the original Council. Unfortunately, even the true chosen ones tended to die very young, so the spirit of the original slayer was literally reincarnated every generation."

"So you are saying that _Buffy_ is the latest incarnation of the _original_ slayer?" Dawn says.

"Yes," Edna says. "That's why Buffy's own powers increase with every slayer death. When your friend Willow used the scythe to activate all of the potentials, what she actually did was call all of the stolen power of the original slayer back onto this plane of existence, back from wherever the Shadow Men had hidden it. When one of the other slayers dies that stolen power, instead of going back to wherever the Shadow Men had kept it, now returns home.

"And that home, dear heart, is your sister."

End Act 1


	4. Act 2

Act 2

**Buffy is walking on the tarmac of the Kinsasha Airport carrying a small bag after disembarking from a private plane. **The plane has the legend _Wicked Witch of the Network_ on the side of it.

"Buffy, over here!" Xander yells. He is standing next to two people. One is a girl of about thirteen with very short hair, the other is a tall man with a salt and pepper hair. Both are clearly African.

"Xander!" Buffy runs up and hugs him.

"Geeeeyugh!" Xander says, "You're kinda crushing me here, Buff!"

"Oh!" Buffy says. "Xander, I'm sorry! I forgot my own strength."

"Buffy, you've been a slayer for awhile now, that's not an excuse any more!"

"Well, actually…we'll talk later." Buffy sticks out her right hand to the other man. "Jono, right? Xander really sings your praises in his letters."

"Ah, then," Jono says, taking Buffy's hand briefly. "I'd like to hear these musical letters."

"Musical…?" Buffy says. "Oh, I get it. Long flight."

Buffy turns to the girl.

"Genevive Kayana, right? I'm Buffy."

Genevive replies in French. Jono translates.

"Genevive says that she is very pleased to meet you. When she first became a slayer in Mbuji-Mayi, she says she saw you fighting the ugly vampires."

"The ugly…?" Buffy says, confusion briefly marring her face. "Oh! She means the Turok-Han! Yeah, they were really ugly, and a lot of girls had visions of them right after they became slayers"

"Hey, Buff," Xander says, clapping his left hand on Buffy's right shoulder. "You think your last airplane ride was long, wait until you ride this one. We're taking Jono's plane to get us to where we're goin'. It's small, cramped, and best of all, no peanuts!"

Buffy shrugs and pouts half heartedly as she follows Xander, Genevive, and Jono.

"I'm too tired to even pout right," she grumbles.

**Giles walks out on Edna's balcony, and finds Dawn looking out over his grandmother's vast back lawn. **Tears are in her eyes.

"Are you all right?" Giles asks.

"I don't know," Dawn says as she wipes her eyes. "I dread Buffy finding out about this. I mean, basically, she's back to being the only 'real' slayer again. And the whole idea about the spirit of the original slayer 'choosing' girls who otherwise would have been stillborn, that's just soooo creepy."

Giles doesn't say anything. He just stands next to Dawn and looks out at the lawn. There are some horses grazing in the distance.

"Did you know our Mom was told by several doctors that there was something wrong with her uterus?" Dawn says. "They said that her uterus probably wouldn't support a full pregnancy. Mom called Buffy her miracle child, and she called me the dessert miracle. Then it turns out that I am a creation of a bunch of monks, and now it turns out that the spirit of the original slayer is responsible for Buffy being born.

"I mean, I look at Karyn and her mom and sister, and I see a _real_ family. Were Mom, Buffy, and I a real family, Giles? Or are the two of us a couple of immortal supernatural _parasites_ that took advantage of a good woman?"

"Don't be absurd!" Giles snaps.

Dawn is silent for a moment.

"You know, with all that happened after Glory's death and the scattering of her minions; Buffy dying then coming back, you leaving Sunnydale, Willow's descent into madness, the Xander and Anya stuff, and Tara dying, we never really processed the idea of a bunch of monks taking a mystical Key and making it human."

"That would be true enough, I suppose," Giles says. "We were all quite distracted."

"Giles, take a minute to think about what the monks supposedly did. They took the Key, then somehow used Buffy, and maybe our mom, to create me and make the Key human. Then they modified the memories of everyone who knew or even met the Summers family. But all that was just the _beginning_. They also had to create or recreate all of the _artifacts_ of a life; clothes, photographs, journal pages, school records. I even have a social security number and a birth certificate. I have cousins who're wearing my old Osh Kosh hand me downs in Chicago. _Think_ about the amount of power and detail required in a spell to create not only a human being, but the appearance of a human _history_. If they were able to do all that, why would they need to hide the Key from Glory in the first place? Why didn't they just send Glory to another dimension, or erase her from history?"

"Dawn, I remind you that Glory was a god," Giles says.

"A god who was ultimately taken down by Buffy playing hit and run with the hammer of a troll," Dawn says. "Giles, against those with the power to create a human life and the physical appearance of a history from scratch, I don't think super strength, speed and brain sucking would have been enough. I mean, let's face it, Glory wasn't much of a strategist. Pretty much the epitome of a strong back and a weak mind."

"You've obviously put a lot of thought into this," Giles says.

"I've been researching the Key during my free time," Dawn says. "Oh! Among my other talents now? Speed reading in half a dozen ancient languages.

"Anyway, when your grandmother talked about the spirit of the original slayer choosing Buffy, things came together. Giles, my mother, because of Buffy, came to believe that she could carry a child to term. My guess is, my Mom and Dad tried to have another child, one who was stillborn. That is, until the monks decided to change history."

"Change…?"

"Giles," Dawn says. "The Key opens a gate between dimensions by creating a hole in space and time. Space and _time_,Giles. The monks didn't have the power to go up against a mad god, but they did have the ability to harness the power of the Key they were guarding. Or perhaps they convinced the Key…_me_…to go back. The chosen one had already provided the model. The Key is sent back in time and keeps alive a girl child who otherwise would have died. When you change history, you don't have to worry about changing the details, the details take care of themselves."

"But that…if that's true, that's wonderful news, Dawn!" Giles says. "It means that our memories of you are true. The monks didn't change the appearance of history, they literally changed history. You really have been present for the past seventeen years."

"Yeah," Dawn says bitterly. "They found a woman who had been used by one supernatural being, and pulled a repeat trick."

"Dawn," Giles says. "Your mother was not _used_. Not in the way you think. She _wanted_ children, and thanks to the spirit of the original slayer, and the Key, she had _two_ wonderful children."

"And what if that's what _killed_ her, Giles?" Dawn says.

"Dawn, that's beyond absurd," Giles says. "There is no reason to think that. People die who shouldn't. It happens all too often. You _both _enriched your mother's life immensely. Stop torturing yourself with unanswerable and unlikely 'what ifs'."

"Well," says Dawn as she leans on the rail and looks out over Edna Giles great green lawn. "I guess you're right. Besides, you knew my Mom pretty well, what with the police car thing and all."

"_What???_" Giles exclaims. "How would you know about that? Buffy never would have confided anything about that to _you_."

"Nope," Dawn says. "Xander let it slip on the Great Slayer Bus Trip to LA."

"Remind me to kill that young man next time I see him."

"Funny," says Dawn. "That's exactly what Xander predicted you would say."

**Xander and Buffy are sitting together in the back seat of Jono's Cessna.** Xander has an open map and is pointing to an area circled with red ink.

"This is where Willow read the presence of the new slayer, but that makes no sense," Xander says, then points to a location just south of the circle. "Here is where the nearest village is. Once in awhile small hunting parties, particularly pygmy, have gone into the area but except for the occasional logging outfit trying to create a road, no one really goes, much less lives, there. Most of the forest is second growth, and the ground is very, very muddy, which makes it difficult to create passable roads."

"Boy, Xan," Buffy says. "You are really getting knowledgeable about Africa."

"Not really," Xander replies. "Africa is the second biggest continent in the world. There are things I love about this place, but mostly, I just feel needed here."

"So where are we going to land?" Buffy asks.

"Here," Xander says, pointing to a spot well south of the circled area. "There's a small airfield here run by the UN. We can then follow a logging road to where the slayer is supposed to be. But like I said, Buffy, it makes no sense."

"Perhaps it's a camp follower," Jono says from his pilot seat.

Xander nods. "That's a possibility."

"Camp follower?" Buffy asks.

"Yeah," Xander says. "Sometimes the loggers will take a girl with them for…"

"Never mind," Buffy says quickly. "I get the picture."

"Yeah," says Xander. "Hey, how is everyone?"

"Well, Willow and Kennedy seem to be doing OK in Rio, although Willow's really busy with her consultation business, and goes to Switzerland at least once a month, so we see her a lot. Kennedy and Ana run the Rio Academy in Will's absence. Giles is Giles, trying to recruit new watchers. I see Robin once a month to go over curriculum."

"Buff, I pretty much _knew_ all of that," Xander says.

"Yeah, well," Buffy says, her expression turning very serious. "The Rome and Tokyo Academies were attacked. We lost two slayers in Rome, and nine in Tokyo."

"_Nine_?" Xander asks.

"Yeah," Buffy says very quietly.

"I'm sorry, Buff. Is there anything…?"

"It's just good to see you, Xan," Buffy says. "You're looking good. Africa agrees with you."

"Thanks!" Xander says with enthusiasm. "I really feel like I'm doing some good down here. I've even been able to get some subcontracts in some of the bigger cities like Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam to help pay for the houses and schools I'm building. I'm able to pay local workers, and rent Jono's plane full time."

Buffy looks at Xander with a combination of awe, pride, affection, and perhaps something more. Xander continues to enthusiastically speak about his work in Africa. She reaches towards his hand, and then stops. Xander doesn't notice.

**Giles, Dawn, and Edna Giles are all on horseback. **Dawn and Edna, riding side by side, look comfortable. Giles, riding behind them, does not look so comfortable.

Dawn leans towards Edna.

"So because Buffy is the reincarnation of the original slayer, every time one or more of the other slayers die, she will feel their deaths and their strength will become hers," Dawn says.

"That's correct," Edna says.

"So, how do we stop that?" Dawn asks.

"Stop it?" Edna says. "My dear young lady, you don't _stop_ it. You can't. Your sister is the latest incarnation of the _source_ of the slayers' power. With the entirety of that power here, on this plane of existence, that power will be compelled to return to the source."

"You didn't see what it did to my sister when the Tokyo slayers died," Dawn says. "She was…I don't think she even knew where she was."

"I'm certain it was awful," Edna replied dryly. "For the Tokyo slayers as well."

"That's a cheap shot," Dawn says. "Buffy being connected to them didn't save them."

"True enough," Edna replies with a slight shrug. She looks at Dawn. "You don't give an inch, do you?"

"No," Dawn says.

"It doesn't matter, there is nothing I can even suggest," Edna says. "In fact, the coming of the original slayer in the form of your sister might well be what has been prophesied concerning the apocalypse."

"You mean the _next _apocalypse," Giles says, riding up next to them. He now looks more comfortable on horseback.

"No," Edna says. "I mean _the _apocalypse. The ones you and your slayer averted were distractions, indeed often obstacles, to the one that is now coming."

"I'd like you to explain what you mean by that," Giles says as his horse backs up nervously and rears slightly. "But let's do it inside. What is wrong with this horse, anyway?"

"Francis is a nervous horse," Edna says. "Other than myself, she hasn't let anyone ride her until you. I thought you might like a challenge."

"I have plenty already, thank you very much," Giles says.

"Actually," Edna says. "Francis is just confirming something that I should have acknowledged long before now. You are indeed my grandson. Your father, in the end, did very well to raise you. When all is said and done, starting the family that produced _you_ will probably be my greatest accomplishment."

Giles looks at his grandmother, his mouth open.

"I'm 102 years old, Rupert," Edna says. "I may look healthy, but I know I don't have much time, certainly not the time to continue the emotional isolation games I initiated with you and your father so long ago."

"Then….then why didn't _you_ contact me?" Giles asks.

"Because I didn't have your courage, grandson," Edna says. "I wanted to pretend that I could shelter you from what was coming. The apocalypse…_the _apocalypse, has begun. You need to know what _I_ know about it."

Francis the horse calms, and Giles edges her alongside Dawn's and Edna's mounts.

"Fine," Giles says. "But let's talk about this on foot, shall we?"

**Buffy, Xander, Genevive, and Jono are riding in a canopied jeep. **The dirt road they are on is extremely rough, and Xander, seated in the back, looks a little green. Buffy, seated next to him, looks like she is dozing behind her sunglasses. Genevive and Jono are speaking to one another in French.

Genevive looks back at Xander.

"Is he all right?" she asks Jono.

"He will be," Jono says. "He is feeling sick because this is a rough ride."

"Yes, he was the same way on your airplane," Genevive says.

"Actually, I thought he was doing well," Jono says.

"No, I didn't mean this last trip," Genevive says. "I mean the other ride. My first airplane ride."

"Ah yes, I remember that," Jono says. "The flight to take you to the academy in Johannesburg. You insisted that Xander ride with you."

"He has a good face," Genevive says. "An honest face. If he went with me, I knew we would be safe."

"So why were you so afraid to ride in the airplane?" Jono asks.

"It was my first time!" Genevive says.

"But there was more to it than that," Jono says.

"Well," Genevive says. "In the village I grew up in, there was one TV set in the Chief's home. We got to watch it about once a week. On the TV, I saw airplanes on the ground three times. Each time, they had crashed, their passengers were dead. Occasionally, I have seen airplanes in the air overhead, but I had never seen one land. I never saw the airport in the city."

"So you weren't sure that an airplane could land?" Jono asks.

"No, but I trusted Alex," Genevive says.

"You know," Jono says. "You're the only one he allows to call him Alex."

"He is a good man," Genevive says.

"Hey!" Xander says. "I'm not so sick I don't know you two are talking about me."

The jeep hits a particularly hard bump.

"Stop the jeep!" Xander yells.

Jono stops the jeep, and Xander gets out and runs into the nearest brush. We hear vomiting sounds. Buffy stirs briefly.

"Again?" she says.

"Again," says Jono.

Xander, wiping his mouth and looking pale, returns to the jeep.

"Sorry," he says.

"Maybe you should ride up front," Buffy says.

"Between Jono's driving and the condition of the mud road, it won't help" Xander says. "And Jono's the only one of us here who can keep us going at this pace."

Xander returns to his seat in the jeep and nods. Jono starts the vehicle on its rapid, rough, and bumpy way again. Buffy pulls Xander's head onto her shoulder. His eye goes wide.

**Giles, Dawn, and Edna Giles are all seated on a picnic blanket. **Several picnic baskets and a very expensive, appetizing looking spread of food surrounds them. The scene is quite tranquil, or would be if it weren't for the eight armed men in black standing around them, all facing outwards and watching the grounds like hawks.

"So tell us about _the _apocalypse," says Giles.

"Tell me what you know about Wolfram and Hart," says Edna.

"Evil law firm," says Dawn. "They represent demons, and corrupt humans."

"What else?" Edna asks.

"They aid and abet demons and humans in the evil they do," Dawn says. "They set out to…corrupt things."

"Exactly!" Edna says. She looks at Giles. "She really is quite brilliant, you know."

"I know," Giles says. He takes a bite of an apple.

"There are, as you both know, multiple hells," says Edna, looking at both of her companions. "These hells are quite philosophically distinct, but they are united in one specific aim. Our world, indeed our universe, was once a hell dimension itself, until control was wrestled away from the ruling Old Ones by beings known in history or pre-history as the Elder Gods, or Higher Beings. Variations of this tale are told in stories of conflict between gods and titans, or gods and frost giants, or heaven and hell. The defeat of the Old Ones resulted in clearing the universe, including our world, for new forms of complex life."

"The Cambrian Explosion," says Dawn.

"Probably," says Edna. "At any rate, the hells all regard our world and our universe as stolen territory, and are all united in their desire to get it back. However, there are very fundamental philosophical differences between the rulers of the hells on how to accomplish this aim. Some wish to invade our world, or even destroy it. So they created hellmouths to connect our world to theirs. They sent demonic shock troops, such as vampires or The Scourge, to weaken possible resistance to invasions.

"The rulers of other hells, however, have a different strategy. They claim that our world already belongs to them, and with enough effort and patience, our world can be returned to its original corrupted state. Included in this effort are some of the beings who, millions, indeed billions, of years ago ruled our world and our universe. Among these beings are Wolfram and Hart's so called 'Senior Partners'."

"OK," says Giles. "So just as we have some factions who desire to invade or destroy us, there are others who desire to corrupt us, indeed to convert us."

"Precisely!" replies Edna. "And this is a very _basic_ disagreement. The corrupters see our world as fertile territory, one that an invasion would destroy. Indeed, they see themselves as potentially among the invaded if such a thing were to happen.

"With that in mind," Edna says. "What do you think Wolfram and Hart's philosophy would be with regards to hellmouths and would be demon invasions?"

"They would oppose them," says Dawn. "As surely as the Watcher's Council would, or any other force for good."

"Ahhhhhhh," says Edna. "Did you hear what you just said? The Watcher's Council or other forces for good. But that, my dears, is precisely the point. The original Watcher's Council was not a force for good. It was started by three warlocks who murdered the original slayer and inflicted her power on an innocent young girl. Why would they do that?"

"Are you saying that the original Watcher's Council was like Wolfram and Hart?" Dawn asks.

"_Worse_, _much_ worse than that, my dear," Edna says. "The Watcher's Council was founded by three warlocks, the so-called Shadow Men. Eventually, the Shadow Men became immortal, if they were ever really mortal and human to begin with. And as their power grew, they became known by the names of their totems."

The scene shifts so that we see the three Shadow Men during their encounter with Buffy during _Get it Done_.

We see one Shadow Man, and hear Edna's voice.

"They became known as the Wolf…"

Then we see another Shadow Man.

"…the Ram…"

Then we see the last Shadow Man.

"…and of course, the Hart."

"Dear Lord!" exclaims Giles. "You're saying the original Watcher's Council and Wolfram and Hart had the same_ founders_???"

"Yes," Edna says. "The Watcher's Council and Wolfram and Hart were two of three of the organizations started by the Shadow Men, the three who would corrupt our world from within. The three who wished to keep other hells from invading us even as they made their own plans to change us from within. The slayers and their watchers were both their instruments, meant to protect the seeds of a new hell."

Giles and Dawn sit in stunned silence. Finally, Dawn speaks.

"You mentioned a third organization."

"My dear," Edna says, holding up a sheet of paper portraying a black circle with thorns. "You've brought their symbol with you. The third organization is known as the Circle of the Black Thorn."


	5. Act 3

Act 3

**Buffy, Xander, Jono, and Genevive are in a village, talking with the chief. **Or more accurately, Jono is talking with the chief, who then translates to Xander and Buffy in English, and occasionally clarifies something to Genevive in French.

"The chief says that a road building crew stopped here about three weeks ago," says Jono. "The crew hired a couple of young men from the village, but no women. Apparently they tried, but no one would go, and the chief would not make them go."

Jono stops as the chief speaks again.

"Three days ago, six soldiers went through here as well. They said that the crew was due at a logging camp and never made it. The soldiers were sent to follow the logger's road to find the builders. They were guessing that they'd run into some militia group, maybe some Hutu refugees from Rwanda."

"But as far as he knows, no girls," Buffy says.

"Right," says Jono.

"Was Willow sure about this location, Buffy?" Xander asks.

"Well, you spoke to her telepathically," Buffy says. "How sure did she sound to you?"

"Pretty sure," Xander says.

"Then we go on," Buffy says.

Jono looks at Xander.

"I was afraid of that," Xander says. "And don't bother trying to change her mind, Jono."

"I wouldn't think of it, my friend."

**Giles walks into a very large bedroom. **Edna is standing by a dresser in a robe and nightgown. Giles stops, takes off his glasses and polishes them. He is very clearly nervous.

"Y…you sent for me, Grandmother," Giles says.

"I did," Edna says. "I need to talk to you about Dawn."

"Why not…talk to _Dawn_ about Dawn?" Giles asks.

"Because I'd rather talk to _you_ about this," Edna says. "Rupert, have you heard of the Scrolls of Aberjian?"

"Yes, they are supposed to contain apocalyptic prophecies," Giles says. "But the Scrolls are supposed to be lost."

"Actually, I believe there's a copy in the Los Angeles branch of Wolfram and Hart," Edna says. "They _were_ in the possession of Angel, who, as I am sure you know, now _runs_ Wolfram and Hart's office in Los Angeles."

"I am aware of that," Giles replies. "I'm surprised he didn't tell us that he had the scrolls, however, if only to ask me to help translate. And I wonder what his interest in those particular scrolls would have been."

"He already had Roger's boy for translation," Edna says. "He was always better with languages than you. And according to the scrolls, the 'vampire with a soul' is supposed to be a major player in the Apocalypse. In what way, I am not sure, but Wolfram and Hart has been very interested in Angel since his arrival in Los Angeles."

Edna pauses.

"Forgive me, Rupert, but this old woman needs to sit down."

Edna sits down on her bed. Giles pulls a chair to the side of the bed and sits facing her. Edna then resumes speaking.

"Much more importantly to you and yours, the Scrolls also mention that the forces of light will be led by a _Female_ Trinity. I've only read _about_ the Scrolls, you understand, not the Scrolls themselves. But I do know that the members of the Female Trinity are the Warrior, the Goddess, and the Adept. The Warrior, I would guess, would be the original slayer, who is now getting a measure of her real power back."

"She's not just some ancient warrior, Grandmother, she's _Buffy Summers_," Giles says angrily. "A thoroughly American young woman, not some ancient warrior demi-goddess!"

"Don't let a father's love for the girl lie to you, Rupert!" Edna scolds. "I remind you that Buffy wouldn't even _exist_ if the soul within her, the soul of the original slayer, had not _chosen_ Buffy Summers as her next incarnation."

Giles' expression is miserable and angry. He closes his eyes.

"And I assume that you believe that _Dawn_ is the _Adept_?" he asks bitterly.

"I think it most likely that she is."

"So that leaves us the Goddess to find," Giles says.

"_Does_ it?" asks Edna. "Rupert, the last witch to wield the full extent of both dark and light magicks went by the name of _Hecate_."

"_Hecate_?" Giles says. "But Hecate is a goddess."

"She is _now,_"Edna says. "But approximately three thousand years ago, she was the very human daughter of a Mycenian farmer."

"Y…you think _Willow_ is the Goddess in the prophecy!" Giles says.

"Yes, Rupert, I do. I believe that _you_ have had a hand in shaping all three of the primary weapons of the Apocalypse."

"_Weapons_," Giles says. "You just referred to three young women, women I love like daughters, as '_weapons_'."

"It took a royal bitch to run the old Council, Rupert," Edna says. "A Council that has always looked at young girls and women as weapons. That bitch has never gone away."

"No, I don't suppose she has," Giles says. He turns, walks out, and slams the door. Edna Giles does not flinch, but her eyes moisten, and a tear falls silently down her right cheek.

"You really do well as a father, grandson," she whispers.

**Jono gives the jeep gas as Buffy and Genevive lift the rear end of the jeep into the air and push it forward. **Xander is seated next to Jono.

"Gotta love traveling with super chicks," Xander says.

"I heard that, Xander!" says Buffy. She takes off her sunglasses to wipe mud off of them, carefully turning so that the other three can not see her eyes. "How many times is it that Genevive and I have had to get us out of a mudhole?"

"Seven," says Jono. "And since there has been no contact with the road building crew, we have no way of knowing how far this road still goes."

Putting her sunglasses back on, Buffy looks to Xander as she returns to the jeep. "How far are we from the location Willow marked for the new slayer?"

"Not far," Xander says. "Maybe 4, 5 miles."

"Huit (eight) kilometers," Jono says to Genevive.

The jeep goes down the road, twice seeming to get stuck but Jono maneuvers it out. Then, they come upon another jeep. Jono pulls alongside it.

"That's the DRC military logo on the side," Jono says.

"So that must be the soldiers' jeep," Xander says.

Jono stops the jeep and turns off the engine.

"This is not a good sign," Jono says. "These soldiers must have come by here three days ago. They wouldn't willingly abandon a jeep for that long."

Xander jumps out and puts his hand on the hood.

"Yeah," he says. "It's cold."

Xander turns to Buffy.

"So what do we do now, fearless leader?" Xander asks.

"I think we keep going," Buffy says. "Hopefully we will be coming up on our missing slayer soon."

"I don't agree with that course of action," Jono says. "The abandoned jeep indicates that something bad happened to the soldiers."

Genevive says something in French to Jono. Jono says something back.

"What did she say?" Buffy asks.

"She said that she is a slayer, and that it is her job to help the soldiers and the road builders if they are in trouble."

Buffy nods. "Smart girl. We keep going."

Jono nods and puts the jeep into gear again. Xander hops in next to Buffy. Buffy moves aside and takes his arm to pull him in.

The scene shifts to the jeep reaching the end of the road. There is an abandoned bulldozer, and some axes lying on the ground. As Jono slows the jeep, Buffy jumps out and lands easily at a jog. Genevive follows behind her. They are both looking around. Jono stops the jeep and shuts the engine off.

"I really have a bad feeling about this," Jono says to Xander.

"Yep," Xander had. "I feel like I'm back in a Sunnydale alley."

The clearing is silent. There are some animal sounds in the distance. Bird calls, and some low rumbling.

"What's that?" Buffy asks.

"Forest elephant," Jono says.

There is a slight rustling. Buffy and Genevive turn towards the rustling.

"Uh guys?" Xander says, pointing to the forest at the end of the road. "I don't think we're alone."

Indeed, emerging from the forest are six large, adult male chimpanzees. They move silently, their hair erect.

"Look at the size of those guys!" whispers Xander.

"Lion Killers," Jono says.

"_Lion _Killers?" Xander says. "These guys kill _lions_?"

"Not literally," Jono says. "They are simply much larger than other chimpanzees in the region. But even for big apes, this is all wrong. They shouldn't be so bold. The people here would have been hunting them for meat. They should be avoiding humans."

The males approach silently, hair erect. The lead male starts swiftly and silently towards Jono, who reaches into the jeep for his gun. Genevive steps between them, the male veers towards her, raising his hand as if to strike her, and she shoves him away. He tumbles about ten feet and, clearly startled at her strength, gets up screaming. The other males start to scream as well and make threatening lunges, but they do not attack.

"Uhm, Xander?" says Buffy. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I'm thinking they want to tear off our heads and sh…"

"No," says Buffy. "This looks like a diversion."

Suddenly, there is a rustling sound from behind them. Buffy turns around quickly, then something very fast runs out and grabs her and pulls her into the trees. The trees rustle with the sounds of a struggle.

"Buffy?" yells Xander. "_Buffy??_"

"Ow!" yells Buffy. "Quit biting meeee!"

Suddenly, a small black figure is thrown from the trees and slams loudly into the side of the abandoned bulldozer. The figure rebounds off of the bulldozer, leaving a substantial dent. There is the screaming of other chimpanzees from the trees all around them. The six males continue to scream and look nervously at the figure quickly getting up from the ground. It's a small, female chimpanzee, who is clearly enraged. She starts to approach Xander, Genevieve, and Jono, slowly but steadily. The males follow her.

"It's an adolescent female," Jono says. "Probably about 9 or 10 years old."

"Yeah," Xander says. "She doesn't seem to be very scared of us, just mad. By any chance, how old is 9 to 10 in human years for a chimp?"

"Maybe 13 or 14," Jono says.

"I was afraid of that," Xander says.

Buffy steps out from the brush. Her clothes are torn and she has scratches. Her glasses are missing, and her yellow and red eyes are out for all to see.

"Buffy, your eyes…" Xander says.

"_Really_ not important right now…" Buffy says, running to the other three. The young female chimp stops, but does not back up at all.

"What's happening here?" Jono asks.

Xander nods towards the young female chimp.

"I think we've found our girl," he says.

**Giles is carefully walking along the Tharnachian Demon Bushes. **The branches rustle, and seem to wave at him, even towards him.

"Hey." Dawn approaches Giles from the other direction. She has obviously already been out for a walk. "You OK, Giles?"

"No," says Giles. "I'd say I'm rather not."

"Yeah," Dawn says. "As you can see, I can't exactly sleep either."

"I've had another conversation with Grandmother," Giles says.

"A family conversation, right?" Dawn says. "Catching up on…on? Oh no, _more _revelations?"

"Yes," Giles says. "Have you heard of the Scrolls of Aberjian?"

"I think so," Dawn says. "Apocalyptic prophecies. Don't really know much else about them, except there is something about an ensouled vampire…hey, maybe _Angel_ knows something."

"I _do_ wish you'd stop that," Giles says.

"Stop what?"

"Knowing as much or more about everything than I do. _I_ used to be the one who explained everything. It's quite the blow to my pride, really."

Dawn chuckles. "I'm sorry. What are the Scrolls of Aberjian?"

"It's too late for you to play ignorant _now_ I…wait a minute," Giles says.

"What?"

"Do you notice anything?"

Dawn looks around. "No, I don't see anything."

"Yes," Giles says. "Including the armed guards."

"You're right," says Dawn. "They were watching me as I walked out, but there's no sign of them now."

Giles starts to jog. "We need to get back to my Grandmother. _Now_!"

Behind them, unnoticed in the bushes, branches pull down a bloodied human arm. There is a repetitive sucking and crunching sound. From the bushes, a shiny ID tag tumbles out onto the footpath, landing face up. The name on the tag is _Nathan Collins_.

"**I think you're right, Xander," Buffy says, looking at the little female chimp, who stands watching them fearlessly. "I think she **_**is**_** a slayer."**

"A slayer?" Jono says. "But that's insane. She's an animal."

"So are we when it comes down to it," Buffy says. "And I remember from Biology Class that chimps have almost 99 percent the same DNA we do, or something like that."

"Uhm, Buffy?" Xander says. "Now that we know, what do we do about it?"

"Well, we can't very well take her to one of the academies," Buffy says.

"Yeah," Xander says. "I'm afraid that she'll ignore the whole 'no flinging poo at the other slayers' rule. So what do we do now?"

The female chimp is now staring at Buffy's face.

"Uh oh," Xander says. "Chimp slayer has noticed your eyes, Buffy. And no offense, but they look kinda demony."

The female chimp starts walking slowly towards Buffy. Genevive starts to move to intercept her.

"Jono, tell Genevive to stay back," Buffy says. "This chimp may be as strong as _I_ am."

"Oh good," whispers Xander. "Ape strength enhanced by slayer strength. Scary combination."

The female chimp stops in front of Buffy, then gives a brief scream, followed by a whimper. She holds her right hand out towards Buffy.

"Uh oh," says Xander. "Now chimp slayer is starting to act a little crazy."

"No," Buffy says. "I don't think so."

"She's remembering," Genevive says. "Like I did when I first became a slayer, and again when I saw you."

_Buffy is in the Hellmouth wielding the scythe. She stakes one Turok-Han with the point, then beheads another behind her with the blade._

"I think you're right," Buffy says to Genevive.

"Uhm, Buffy?" Xander says. "Genevive just talked to you in French, and you responded in French."

"Huh," Buffy says. "How about that? And to think I almost flunked French in high school."

"You got a B," Xander says reproachfully. "Hardly almost flunking. I, on the other hand, got a C in English. A C _minus_, I might add."

Buffy doesn't respond to Xander. Instead, she reaches out to the female chimp. They touch hands, and look into each other's eyes.

Buffy gasps.

_The scene is by a temperate forest. The Primitive is screaming and crying, and in her arms is a man, a man with a heavy brow ridge and projecting face. She and the man are similar, obviously of the same species. The man has a spear in his chest._

Two tears run down Buffy's face. She stands up.

"It's over," she says, her voice hoarse. "We're done. Time to go."

"_Over_?" Xander says. "It can't be over. Something caused the disappearance of the road crew and the soldiers. Maybe chimp vampires or something. We need to…"

"It wasn't chimp vampires," Buffy says. "It was her."

"Well then, we can't leave her…" Xander says.

"We can and we will," Buffy says.

"_We_ are the monsters," Genevive whispers in French.

"She's right," Jono says in English, looking at Xander. "To her, we _are_ the monsters. In her eyes we are not any different from what vampires are to us. We hunt them and kill them and eat them. We steal their children. We are literally wiping them out."

"But we have _souls_," Xander says. "And some of us try to help…"

"I don't think we have the time and the ability to make those distinctions to her," Buffy says.

"So we _let_ her kill people?" Xander says, his voice raised.

"No, but we can't kill her just for being a slayer either," Buffy says. "In her own way, she's doing her job: Protecting her people from the things that threaten them.

"But, what we can do is warn people to stay away. Maybe my funky looking eyes can come in useful. They may help my credibility when I tell them that the forest here has a powerful, _supernatural_, guardian.

"And if that doesn't work, I'll pick up one of their trucks and threaten to drop it on their heads."

"I agree that leaving is the best course," says Jono.

"Then we need to leave _now_," Buffy says. "While she is still feeling a measure of slayer solidarity."

The four humans back away as the chimps watch. Some of the males start to display towards them, but stop when the young female turns and glares at them. Then she turns and watches as the four continue to back away, until Buffy turns around and starts to walk, and the other three do the same. The four humans get back into the jeep, and Jono starts it and pulls away. As the sound of the jeep's engine recedes, the chimps start to silently melt back into the rainforest. However, the young female continues to watch the jeep's departure until she is alone among the remains of the logging camp. Then she turns and walks silently into the forest. All is now quiet. Then, slowly, the sounds of the forest come back.

"**Dawn!" whispers Giles. **"Look! By the front door!"

"I see it," Dawn whispers back. "Stay here, I'll check it out."

"I am quite capable of…" Giles starts to say, but Dawn is already gone. Giles rolls his eyes. "Bloody Hell! _Slayers_."

Dawn is crouching over the body of a guard.

"Is he…?" Giles whispers.

"Yeah. His neck's been broken. Body's still warm."

"Dawn," Giles says. "Go ahead and get to my grandmother. Don't wait for me, but be very careful. I'd be very cross if something happened to you."

Dawn smiles, and opens the front door and moves in silently. Giles picks up the dead man's gun, quickly and expertly checking the clip. Then, he stands back up and moves soundlessly through the opened doorway. There are two more dead bodyguards lying in the foyer. Dawn is nowhere to be seen.

Then, from upstairs, there is the sound of a gunshot.

"Giles!" Dawn yells. "I need your help. Now!"

There is the sound of another gunshot as Giles takes the stairs two at a time.

"GILES!!" screams Dawn. "HURRY!!"

Giles enters into his grandmother's bedroom. Dawn is struggling with Collins, and in spite of her own slayer strength, he seems to be holding his own, trying to push the gun in his right hand down towards Dawn's face. Giles moves to help her.

"Not _me_, Giles!" yells Dawn. "I'll deal with this. You need to check on your grandmother."

Giles' grandmother is lying on her bed. Her left shoulder and upper chest are covered with bright red blood.

"Grandmother!" exclaims Giles as he runs to her side.

"I'll be all right!" Edna Giles says. "Or, at my age, I'll die from shock. Either way, _I'm_ not important. Your slayer is. Go help her. _Now_!!!"

Giles turns in time to see Dawn bring Collin's gun hand down onto her raised left knee. The gun falls to the floor and skitters away. Collins hits Dawn with his left fist, knocking her to her knees. But Dawn comes up suddenly and quickly with the flat of her hand under his chin. He flies into the air and smashes into the mirror above a massive dresser. As Collins falls into a sitting position, Dawn ducks out of the way.

"Giles!" she yells. "Shoot him, and keep shooting him until you run out of bullets."

Giles complies. Sparks fly out of Collins' body. Collins then falls forward and flops onto the floor with a metallic sound. He rolls to a stop, his eyes open. Sparks continue to sputter out of his chest.

"Good lord!" Giles exclaims. "Is he a _robot_?"

"Looks like it," Dawn says.

Giles turns to his grandmother. She is breathing shallowly.

"Grandmother!" he yells, rushing back to her side to stem the bleeding.

"Stop fussing over me and listen," Edna says, her voice soft. "That…that cyborg. _Damn_ him!! I didn't believe him capable of actually _doing_ this!"

"Shhhh," Giles says. "Save your strength."

"I've been saving my strength for 102 years," Edna says. "This is too important. Quentin Travers, he had the old Council _duplicated_…"

"_Duplicated? _With _robots_?" Dawn says. "But _how_?"

"_**Duplicated**_**? With **_**robots**_**? But **_**how?" **_

Dawn's image on a view screen is fuzzy and partially covered in static. There is also the slight buzz of white noise. Warren Mears, or at least it appears to be Warren Mears, sits and watches Dawn, Giles, and Edna's flickering images on the screen, obviously a Collins eye view of the scene. As our view pans back, we see that there is an open panel on "Warren's" arm, and a wire connecting the arm to the computer.

"Warren" turns to a figure standing behind him. The figure at least looks like Quentin Travers.

"How is our Collins duplicate doing?" asks Quentin in his trademark gruff voice.

"He's toast," says "Warren". "The brat and the old man took him out, but not before he got the _really_ old woman. She's done for."

"Excellent," says Quentin. "I imagine she told them just enough to keep them busy, but we can't have Giles, much less the _Adept_, knowing _too_ much, now can we?"

Quentin turns around and starts to walk away, adjusting the collar of his suit coat as he does so. "Keep me posted. I have a meeting to attend."

As Quentin walks away, our view pans back to reveal a huge, underground room with hundreds of computer consoles, each with a literally plugged in attendant.

FADE TO BLACK


	6. Next on Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Next, on Buffy the Vampire Slayer

**Giles is sitting in the waiting room of the hospital and Lyssa McGrath runs up to him. **They hug, and briefly kiss.

"How is she?" Lyssa asks.

"She's not expected to live," Giles says.

"**So I'm **_**the **_**Slayer after all, huh?" Buffy asks Dawn as they are both sitting on the couch in their apartment. **

"Yeah," Dawn says. "Funny thing, I didn't expect you to take it this well."

**Dawn is speaking into the phone. **"Willow, we need your help with a little break in."

"**Uhm," Karyn McGrath says uncertainly. **She is sitting in Buffy's office with a grim faced Robin Wood, Buffy, and Dawn. "This isn't making sense to me. Isn't Angel our friend? I mean, he did put us all up after the battle in the Hellmouth."

Buffy shakes her head.

"_Angel _may be our friend," Buffy says. "But his office still ultimately belongs to Wolfram and Hart, and they have just been identified as our primary enemies. We think they are behind the recent attacks on us and the Tokyo Academy."

"And Giles and I _need _to see the Scrolls of Aberjian as soon as possible," Dawn says. "So we're breaking into the Los Angeles office of Wolfram and Hart, and here is how we are going to do it…"

"**OK, that's it," Willow says. **

Willow looks at the three young women and one man in front of her. One of them, a tall brunette in a very lawyerly outfit, says in Buffy's voice, "How do we look?"

"Just like four high powered attorneys," says Willow.

A short blond says, "Ewwww." The voice is Dawn's.

The tall sandy haired man, obviously the oldest of the four, but still relatively young, says, "Dawn's right. No need to rub it in." The voice is Robin's.

**The disguised foursome are walking through the halls of Wolfram and Hart. **Robin appears to bump into someone who isn't there. A man in a wife beater tee-shirt, covered by tattoos, briefly becomes visible. It is, of course, Lindsey McDonald. Robin's true face also briefly appears, but before they can look at each other, Lindsey vanishes and Robin's mystical disguise resumes.

**The other female of the foursome, a pretty young black woman who is obviously a disguised Karyn, is looking through a window. **

"Hey, Dawn," she whispers. "Doesn't that look like…?"

The little blond, the disguised Dawn, comes up and looks through the window.

"_Spike!_" Dawn whispers disbelievingly. "That looks like…"

"Uhm…" Karyn whispers in a forced conversational tone, "Is he…?"

"Yeah," Dawn says. "He is, and that better not be…oh God oh God!"

Dawn shakes her wrists as if she has just touched something disgusting.

"Ewwwww! _Harmony!_"

**A man with blood coming out of his eyes runs at the disguised Buffy. **

"I'm going to _kill_ you!" he screams.

Buffy easily knocks him out, without really thinking about being in disguise. Wesley runs up to her.

"Are you all right?" he asks.

"Uhm…" Buffy says. "I'm fine. Just fine."

Wesley's eyebrows raise speculatively.

Buffy lowers her voice and speaks again with a very fake sounding southern accent.

"Ah'm really fine, thank you kindly good sir," Buffy says.

Dawn gives her an "I don't know you" look. Wesley shakes his head as if waking up from a daydream and moves away.

"Let's get out of here before Angel shows up," Buffy says. "I don't know if Willow's spell extends to how we smell."

On cue, we hear Angel's voice bellow.

"_Spike!_ Where the Hell _are_ you?"

We see Angel at the door to his office. He pauses, his face suddenly looking assuming a look of concentration. He starts to sniff…

END

Final comments:

I tried to portray the DRC as accurately as I could, but I am sure I made some very basic errors. What is indisputable, however, is that the situation in the DRC is extremely difficult for its people due to rampant poverty, civil war, and expatriate militias, particularly from Rwanda. Also, the status of all species of African great apes (chimpanzees, gorillas, and bonobos, the latter endemic to the DRC) is critical due in large part to the bushmeat trade.

Secondly, I know this episode was heavy on phlebotenum (as the Mutant Enemy writing team called explanation about made up mythology). I tried to make it interesting, and to present it in a readable fashion.


End file.
